A superior Court judge yesterday found 21 rabbis guilty of taking part in illegal demonstrations last summer in front of the Soviet Embassy. Each defendant was given a suspended 15-day jail term, six months unsupervised probation and a $50 fine.
They had protested the treatment of Jews in the Soviet Union. They were arrested on charges of violating a law banning such demonstrations within 500 feet of an Embassy. The case was the first to be tried after more than 150 arrests in seven demonstrations at the Soviet Embassy from May to November.
Previously, a motion for dismissal on grounds of inconsistency had been denied. The defendants argued that none of the more than 2,000 demonstrators in similar actions in front of the South African Embassy had been arrested.
Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled last Thursday the demonstration by the rabbis was illegal and imposed the sentences. More than 50 rabbis and around 100 other demonstrators from all parts of the United States have been arrested for such demonstrations since May. Lawyers for the defendants contended that U.S. Attorney for Washington Joseph diGenova has prosecuted demonstrators at the Soviet Embassy but dropped similar charges against demonstrators at the South African Embassy.
A second trial, of 25 rabbis arrested May 1, is set for December 11.
The demonstrations have been arranged by the Washington Board of Rabbis and the Rabbinical Assembly, the association of Conservative rabbis. The most recent arrests took place on November 17.
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